Changing Fate
by ericaj318
Summary: Rose Flanagan wakes up in 1975 after falling asleep in 2016. She's on Amity Island so she finds Quint. Please R&R
1. Chapter 1

Rose Flanagan walked into her apartment after a long day of work skipping food and opting to go straight to bed. She laid down in her bed, pulled her covers over her and fell fast asleep without even changing out of her business suit. After what felt like the longest sleep of her life, she was woken up by the sound of her alarm radio next to her bed.

"Jive Talkin'," she said to herself as the song played, "I guess I must have switched it to the oldies station," she shrugged as she got out of bed to turn the news on and check the weather. She reached for her remote but there wasn't one and when she looked at her TV, it reminded her of one her Grandfather had when she was young.

She got out of bed, walked over to it and turned the knob to switch it on and what she saw was _The Today Show_ but with very different faces then what she expected.

'Did someone switch out all her things while she slept as a joke?' she thought to herself, 'Or was this a dream?' She continued to watch the show and saw that it was going to be the hottest day of the year which was strange because when she fell asleep it was winter.

Rose switched off the TV and went into her closet to pick out clothes. She was shocked to find nothing but brightly colored dresses and jumpsuits with the largest flares she had ever seen. She dug through the clothes until she stumbled on a set of denim short overalls, breathing a sigh of relief as she pulled them out with a plain white t-shirt to wear underneath. Rose quickly got ready and let her hair dry naturally which turned into a wavy mess.

Rose sighed as she opened her door to walk down the stairs of her building to the outside world. When she walked outside of her building she was met with a small ocean town and a view of the sea. 'This is definitely a dream,' she decided as she walked forward to explore.

She walked down the street until she found a bar with a newspaper holder in front of it. She pulled out one of the papers and learned her location, Amity Island 1975. 'It's a _Jaws_ dream,' she said to herself as she walked into the bar.

"What can I get you lassy?" the bartender asked as she walked up to the bar.

Rose shook her head, "I'm not here for a drink. Can you point me in the direction of the fisherman named Quint?" she asked.

The man nodded as she gave her simple directions to follow. Rose thanked the man before she walked further down the street down to the docks where she would find Quint. She knocked on the door when she arrived.

"What do you want?" she heard his disgruntled voice through the door.

"Mr. Quint," she began, "My name is Rose Flanagan and I was hoping to help you catch the Great White that's been harassing these waters."

The door opened to reveal Quint. He was wearing his famous denim shirt, unbuttoned down his chest. He had on his olive green cap with matching pants, "What shark are you talkin' about?" he asked, his voice gruff and he smelled of alcohol.

She was taken aback by his reaction but she hadn't checked the date on the paper, "What is the date?" she asked.

"Answering a question with a question?" he asked, "Don't waste my time, little lady," he finished as he began to shut the door.

"Wait, Mr. Quint," Rose said quickly, "If you just tell me the date, I can explain. Please," she said, batting her eyes hoping he was weak to pretty girls. He did say he married four times in the film.

Quint sighed as he opened the door again, his patience thinning by the moment, "It's the 29th of June. Does that help ya, Missy?"

Rose took a deep breath for a moment, thinking back to the film before answering, "Ok, if it's the 29th then Chief Brody knows about Chrissie Watkins but the Mayor won't let him shut down the beach and a little boy will die today. We have to get to the beach!" she said in a rush.

"What are ya talkin' about?" Quint asked, his face showing the confusion he felt, "You sound like you had a few too many drinks down at the Tavern. I can get you some black coffee," he offered, slightly concerned about her.

Rose shook her head, "No, I'm not drunk at all. Listen, I know I sound insane but we have to go. Please come with me," she begged.

Quint closed his eyes in frustration before taking a look back at the work he needed to do and then looking back at this very confusing girl who had shown up at his door. He growled before replying, "Fine. It's a short walk from here. Come with me."

Rose smiled, "Thank you," she said as she followed him down the docks and straight to the beach. As they neared the giant group of people on the beach and in the water, Rose began to shout, "Get ou…"

Her shout was stopped quickly by Quint's hand upon her mouth, "Ya have no proof yet of what you've said and ya can't go screamin' bout sharks in a town like this. Follow me to the Chief."

Rose nodded as he removed his hand from her mouth and took her wrist with it, leading her across the beach.

The pair walked up to the Chief to see a citizen of the town asking him for some help and then they hear a girl's scream. Quint and Brody look to the water but Rose knows it's just the girl's boyfriend.

"Chief," Quint said, interrupting the man, "This young woman came to my home today because she thinks there's a Great White terrorizing our island. She says a boy's gonna die and a girl already did. Is she right?" he asked as Brody looks at him and Rose with a quizzical expression upon his face.

"No one knows about Chrissie other then the police, her boyfriend and the Mayor," Brody stated, "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter," Rose rushed, "You need to get these people out of the water right now," she said, urgently but she was too late as little Alex Kitner was already being torn to pieces on his yellow float.

"Shark!" someone screamed as the water cleared and Alex's mother looked for him.

Brody had raced to the water's edge but he looked back at Rose with a very suspicious look on his face.

"How did ya know that would happen?" Quint questioned her.

Rose had to lie because telling these people they were in her dream didn't seem like a great plan, "I'm a marine biologist visiting the island and I overheard Brody discussing Chrissie with his deputy this morning. And, if the beaches aren't closed then the shark would be attracted to splashing like this and someone would die," she explained, using her best shark knowledge.

"You said a boy would die," Quint added, "That seems pretty damn specific. Explain that."

Rose thought for a moment, "A child or an elderly person would have the hardest time getting back to shore so I had a 50/50 chance of guessing right. Will you hunt the shark with me?"

Quint shook his head, "I don't want to be near someone who seems to know just a little too much. Go home and sleep off all the alcohol you've had," he said as he turned away from her and traipsed back across the beach.

Rose expected to wake up but it wasn't happening and she saw Brody coming her way so she quickly raced up the beach and back to her apartment. She walked into her home, found a bottle of whiskey and did a few shots before laying back in her bed to go to sleep and hopefully wake where she was supposed to be.


	2. Chapter 2

Unfortunately when she woke the next morning, she was still in 1975. 'Guess I better dress a little more appropriately and head to the town hall meeting,' she said out loud as she showered and put on a black jumpsuit with a denim jacket and headed down to the meeting where she knew Quint would offer his services.

She walked in and sat toward the back corner, staying quiet as she watched the events of the movie transpire. As the town's people began to argue, she heard the terrible but familiar sound of Quint's fingernails on the chalkboard. Once he had the attention of everyone, he spoke:

"Y'all know me. Know how I earn a livin'. I'll catch this bird for you, but it ain't gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down the pond chasin' bluegills and tommycods. This shark, swallow you whole. Little shakin', little tenderizin', an' down you go. And we gotta do it quick, that'll bring back your tourists, put all your businesses on a payin' basis. But it's not gonna be pleasant. I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I'll find him for three, but I'll catch him, and kill him, for ten. But you've gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don't want no volunteers, I don't want no mates, there's just too many captains on this island. $10,000 for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing."

Rose knew the speech so well, she found herself mouthing along with every word. The town rejected his offer as Rose expected and thus began the great shark hunt of 1975. Rose didn't want to get caught up with Brody and Hooper once he arrived so she headed back to Quint's place after the meeting let out.

She knocked at his door as she had done the day before. He opened it and groaned when he saw her on the other side, "I thought I told ya to go home."

Rose nodded, "I did and I slept just like you said. You were so right, I was not myself yesterday but I really want to help. Can I please work with you?"

Quint looked at her, his face showing amusement, "A scientist has no place hunting a shark. Don't ya want to protect it or what not?" he questioned.

Rose nodded once more, "Normally you'd be so right but this shark is displaying behavior that makes it very dangerous. He is not going to leave this town until the people stay out of the water or he's dead. I have a lot of knowledge that can help you and I am not a rich kid," she offered.

"Not a rich kid?" Quint replied with a guttural laugh, "Why would ya say something like that?"

"I just had a feeling that you respect people who work hard for what they have and you're not a fan of those who have things handed to them," she replied, leaving her answer as simple as possible.

Quint squinted his eyes at her as he laughed once more, "Alright, you're crazy enough to be apart of a shark hunt, I think. Come on it. They'll be calling out for my help any day now."

Rose nodded as she walked into his workshop grateful that he hadn't asked any more questions. "How will you do it?" she asked curiously.

Quint looked over at her, his face beaming with pride at what he did for a living, "Well, if you must know, I use piano wire when I am huntin' sharks because they'll choke on it. I've never come across a shark that could bite through the piano wire I use. And if that doesn't work, I attach barrels to em to keep em at the surface and tire em out."

"How many barrels does it take?" she asked as she looked around at all his fishing trophies he had around his shop.

"Should only take two but this bird might be different," Quint replied, "Make yourself useful and starting loading the boat with barrells for when we do get to go out."

Rose nodded as she got to work. When she walked onto the Orca for the first time, she wished for a moment it wasn't a dream. She looked at the boat and was sad to know that it wouldn't make it through this journey nor would the man she was getting to know quite well.

"Hey Mr. Quint," she yelled, "Do you have anything more lethal we could bring in case your plans don't work?"

Quint looked at her, his head cocked to the side, "My methods will work and you can call me, Quint. Mr. Quint was my dad."

Rose nodded as she continued to work. Quint and Rose spent four days working and watching the town turn insane at the prospect of the reward money before Brody and Hooper showed up at Quint's place.

"Ah Chief, ya finally ready to ante up?" Quint asked as he welcomed them in allowing Brody to see Rose there.

"The Mayor has signed off on what you want," Brody replied, "When can we go out and take care of this?"

"They'll be no 'we'," Quint replied as he poured the men some of his homemade alcohol, "There's too many Captains on this island. I've got my mate here and she and I will go out and bring the shark back."

"In all respect, Quint," Brody replied, "This is my charter and Hooper and I are coming."

"It's your charter but it's my boat," Quint replied, "And who is this Nancy Boy anyway?"

"My name's Matt Hooper," he replied, "I am a Marine Biologist from the Oceanographic Institute. I want to come along and study this shark up close."

"I already have a Marine Biologist on board," Quint replied gesturing at Rose, "And I don't need your city hands aboard my vessel."

Hooper looked at Rose curiously, "Where did you go to school?"

Rose looked down, not even sure which universities existed in this time period, so she quickly said, "It was a small school in the Gulf Coast. You won't have heard of it. Quint, they need to come to. We should leave at first light tomorrow morning," she added quickly to defer from further questions about her.

Quint glared at her before he replied, "Bring your gear on the boat. We leave at dawn."

Brody and Hooper nodded as they disappeared leaving Rose and Quint alone again. "Why do they need to come with us?" Quint asked, annoyed by all the passengers that would be on his boat.

Rose shrugged, "If the shark is as bad as you think then more men will make the job easier, even if they aren't the best men we could find. What do you wanna do with our last night on land?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Wanna go get a drink?" he asked, he'd taken quite a liking to her over the past few days.

Rose nodded as she took off her apron and pulled back on her jean jacket. "On the way back here, I should stop by my place and grab something better to wear for a few days on the ocean."

Quint nodded as he led her to the bar she'd gone into on her first day in this 'dream' though now she wasn't so sure what this was. It was lasting so long but she supposed dreams can go on forever in your mind even if it's only 8-10 hours in real life.

The pair sat down at the bar and ordered two whiskeys, "You drink whiskey, girl?" Quint asked looking at her curiously.

Rose smiled, "I'm a regular guy's gal. So, what do you normally do with a girl you take out for drinks?" she asked, flirting as she decided to make the most of this dream.

Quint smiled deviously as he replied, "Normally, I wouldn't take a lass out for drinks because women aren't good company but yer different."

Rose blushed at his words as she leaned over toward his and placed her hand on his unshaven face before pulling his face closer and placing her lips against his. The kiss was everything she'd imagined it would be but it was a dream so it wouldn't be any other way.

After they finished their drinks Rose had a thought, "Do you wanna come back to my place and help me with my things?" she asked, feeling the whiskey.

Quint grinned as he nodded in reply, "Lead the way, girl."

Rose led him to her apartment and straight into her bedroom where she pulled him into a kiss once more. He deepened the kiss as he laid her back onto her bed, his body on top of hers as he ran his hands over her body above her jumpsuit. "How do ya take this thing off?" he asked, his breathing labored.

Rose rolled over underneath him to reveal a zipper on the back. He slowly pulled the zipper down to reveal her back and underwear he'd never seen the likes of. Once she was unzipped she rolled back over and let him pull it off of her and down her body until it was on the floor. Rose looked up at his denim shirt, the buttons already halfway undone as usual and she finished the job pushing it off of his shoulders and down to the floor. She then ran her hands through the grey hairs on his chest down his stomach to his belt which she undid swiftly.

"Set an alarm so we're not late," Quint whispered in her ear as he kicked his pants to the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning they woke to the alarm and quickly got dressed to head to the boat, "Last night was nice,' Quint stated as they reached the boat where Hooper was loading it with supplies.

Rose smiled as she reached down and gave his hand a quick squeeze before she disappeared in the shop to make sure they had everything. When she came back out she noticed Quint tormenting Hooper. She heard his famous likes followed by the famous song, 'Farewell and adieu.' She smiled to herself as Brody arrived and they set out to sea.

Hooper guided them to a frequent feeding are for the shark where they stopped the boat and Brody began chumming the water while Quint readied his fishing equipment.

"You're just gonna real in a Great White?" Hooper mocked as he watched Quint.

Quint grinned, "You just keep you things from blowing up my ship and I'll worry about catching this shark."

Hooper scoffed as he walked over to look at the water and then directed his attention to Rose, "So, how do you stand him?" he asked her.

Rose shook her head, "I happen to enjoy his company. Why don't you make sure and do what he says on this mission instead of what you want to do because this will go much easier if you do."

Quint overheard her and grinned to himself as he thought about making her his fifth wife. As they waited for something to happen, Rose was laid out on the front are of the boat, Hooper was keeping the course and Brody was learning to tie knots.

"I got something," Quint announced breaking the silence, "Buckle me in, Cheif."

"It's not a shark," Hooper stated, his overconfidence extremely annoying.

Quint fiddled with his fishing pole until he came to a conclusion, "He's gone under the boat. This fish is either very smart or very dumb."

"I'm telling you," Hooper began again, "It might be a marlin or some big fish but it's not a shark."

Quint finished reeling in the wire and he found that it had been bitten through. He unhitched himself and walked over to Hooper, "A Marlin chewed through this piano wire? Don't tell me my business again."

Hooper was about to speak again when Rose interrupted them all, "Guys, look."

The men looked out and saw a large shark swimming out from under the boat. "That's gotta be a twenty footer," Hooper said.

"Twenty-five," Quint corrected, "And at least three tons on him. Tie a barrel to that harpoon gun," he instructed as he walked up onto the pier.

Hooper disappeared beneath the deck so Rose took over. "You're good Quint."

Quint turned back and grinned at her as held the gun up, ready to shoot at the right moment. Hooper returned and began hooking something else onto the barrel.

"What's that?" Rose asked as she watched Brody show back up with his handgun.

"It's a beacon so we can see him coming," Hooper replied as he got it tied on.

"Brody, those bullets won't pierce his skin," Rose said, "Don't waste your time."

Rose turned her attention to Quint as he shot the shark and a barrel flew from the boat into the water, trailing the shark. "Tie another one on, Rose," Quint ordered, "Hooper keep us on course with the shark."

Hooper nodded as he raced up to the steering wheel and Rose began tying another barrel on. Hooper directed the boat to the shark and Quint got a second barrel on him but they were deeply disappointed to see the shark take both down with him.

"So, are we going back in?" Brody asked.

Quint shook his head as he turned his back to the sea, "No, we wait. Those barrels will bring him back up and when they do, we'll be ready."

Brody nodded as Hooper and Rose went below deck. "I'm gonna make something to eat," she stated as Hooper began looking at a map and trying to figure out where the shark might go.

After a while, Brody and Quint joined them and the four began drinking. Rose was leaned against Quint as Hooper and him compared scars, Rose mouthing each man's reaction to herself.

"Where'd you get that scar?" Brody asked as he saw a scar on Quint's forearm.

"Tattoo," Quint replied, "I got that removed."

Hooper laughed, "Let me guess," he began, "Mother!" he roared with laughter.

"No," Quint replied, "It was from the U.S.S. Indianapolis."

"You were on the Indianapolis?" Hooper replied.

"What's that?" Brody asked.

Rose smiled as she leaned up away from Quint so she could watch him tell the story.

Quint began:

"Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin' back from the island of Tinian to Leyte, just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in twelve minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. Thirteen-footer. You know how you know that when you're in the water, Chief? You tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn't know... was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. Heh. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin'. So we formed ourselves into tight groups. Y'know, it's... kinda like ol' squares in a battle like, uh, you see in a calendar, like the Battle of Waterloo, and the idea was, shark comes to the nearest man and that man, he'd start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin', and sometimes the shark'd go away... sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark, he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. Y'know the thing about a shark, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'... until he bites ya. And those black eyes roll over white, and then... oh, then you hear that terrible high-pitch screamin', the ocean turns red, and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin', they all come in and they... rip you to pieces. Y'know, by the end of that first dawn... lost a hundred men. I dunno how many sharks. Maybe a thousand. I dunno how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday mornin', Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Bosun's mate. I thought he was asleep. Reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up and down in the water just like a kinda top. Upended. Well... he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us, he swung in low and he saw us. Young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper. Anyway, he saw us and come in low and three hours later, a big fat PBY comes down and start to pick us up. Y'know, that was the time I was most frightened, waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a life jacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water, three hundred sixteen men come out, and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway... we delivered the bomb."

The tone sombered after his story and Rose decided to take a swig of her drink and sing, "Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies," she was joined by Quint before Hooper started another song.

The four began singing 'Show Me the Way to Go Home' before they were stopped by the sound of a large crash into the boat.

"Looks like he's back," Hooper said as he raced to the deck, followed by Rose and Quint. Before Quint was out, he looked at Brody and said, "Put out the fire, will ya Chief?"

The shark left as quickly as it appeared but the boat was officially damaged. "We need to go back in," Brody said as he joined them above.

"No, we wait him out," Quint replied as he stood watch until morning.


	4. Chapter 4

Once morning hit, Quint was repairing the boat, Brody was chumming the water once more, Hooper was steering and Rose was handing Quint tools.

After a while, Hooper yelled, "He's back!"

The team got ready to shoot a third barrel at the shark. "Quint, this isn't going to work. What else do you have on board?" Rose asked his as they went to the bow again.

Quint shook his hand, "Hooper brought somethings on board but I don't know how useful they'll be. Tie a barrel on," he ordered.

Rose nodded and did as she was asked before watching the events unfold exactly as they would everytime. Finally, Qunt asked Hooper what he had to help.

"If I can get close enough," Hooper said with a needle in his hand, "I can pump this into the shark and it'll kill him instantly."

"You can't get that little needle through his thick skin," Quint replied.

"He has to do it from inside the cage," Rose added.

"That's insane!" Brody protested, "That shark will tear that thing apart!"

Rose knew it was true but she sat back to let things unfold as they were supposed to.

"What other option do we have?" Hooper replied.

They readied the cage while Hooper suited up and they lowered him into the ocean with the shark. Quint had put on his full military look which meant he was giving up and ready to go down with his ship, Rose knew that from the thousand times she'd watched the film.

As Brody predicted, the shark tore the cage apart and Hooper wasn't in it when they pulled it back up. As they looked at the cage, the shark leaped from the water onto the boat, pulling it into the water.

Quint and Brody grabbed on to things inside the cabin but Rose was near the edge so she only had the ladder to grab. The shark's body was pulling the boat down and causing them to use all their strength to not slide into it's mouth.

Rose heard the familiar sound of Quint's scream as the tank rolled over his fingers and caused him to lose grip and slide forward out of Brody's reach. Rose knew she should let events unfold as they were supposed to but she couldn't. She reached down and grabbed Quint's wrist, pulling him up to her.

"Chief!" Rose screamed, "Throw a tank into its mouth and shoot at it!" she yelled, changing the way things would unfold.

Brody didn't hesitate as he did exactly what she said and used his handgun. "Cover your head," Rose told Quint as she did the same because the shot caused the shark to explode, pieced flying into the air before the shark's remains sunk back into the water.

"Thank you, girl," Quint said as he pulled her into his arms.

Brody sighed in relief as Hooper showed back up at the surface, "You made it!" Brody yelled.

"Get in the lifeboat," Quint ordered as the group moved carefully across the sinking boat to the lifeboat to head back to shore.

Brody and Hooper paddled while Quint held onto Rose tightly. Rose expected to wake up from this dream but she never did.

The End.


End file.
